Of Fairies and Acorns
by VampedVixen
Summary: Wait a sec.. you're Ella. My friend Ella? What the how did you you mean to say that you were turned into a squirrel? I must be going crazy.. but then, stranger things have been known to happen, I suppose.'


Although you may think that Ella had won  
And her curse was now over and finally done  
Fairies know when their big spells break  
Or are given away like they're a mistake

Giants were no longer forced to work long hours for little pay. Elves were free to choose occupations that enriched them and made them happy. Ogres and humans now lived at peace with each other once again. The effects of Prince Edgar's rule were seeming to vanish as a new more equal society gained more footing and leverage. The kingdom was happy and this made Ella content as well.

As she walked down the path that led back to the castle, rich from her travels with tales to tell her king of how the middle class was faring, Ella sang to herself softly, "Harmony and understanding, sympathy and trust abounding. No more falsehoods or derisions, golden living dreams of visions."

A small dot appeared in th e sky, drawing her attention towards it. As it came closer, Ella could make out the figures wings and the familiar face of the one who had cursed her so many years earlier. She rolled her eyes with a special annoyance reserved strictly for her fairy godmother, "Great, Lucinda.. just who I wanted to bump into."

"That's how you great me, oh you have got to be joking, child." Lucinda came in for a landing, bumping along the path as if she was just begging for another Flying While Intoxicated. Straightening herself out, she spoke with a show of bravado that very few could rival. "You wouldn't have gotten to where you are today without my help, you know."

Ella grimaced and bowed a bit, if only to appease the powerful magic user than anything else. Through a tightened smile, she said, "How have you been, Lucinda?"

"How have I been?" The fairy crossed her arms, cocking her head to the side. "How have I been?! Oh, you know, I was fine.. until I heard that one of my wonderful gifts had been returned like it was a piece of rubbish."

"You don't understand, Lucinda--"

"Oh, no," She snapped her fingers and Ella felt her lips press tightly against themselves, closed mouthed and unable to speak. "You don't understand. I was gracious enough to have blessed you with such obedience and you threw it back in my face. What, you think you're so much better now that you're royalty."

The queen tried to talk, to explain things, but she still could not move her lips. She brought her hands to her face, trying to pry her mouth open but nothing worked. Lucinda's magic was far too strong and Ella feared the fairy was past the point of talking anyway.

"Ella of Frell, Queen of Lamia, you ungrateful little wench." Holding forth her arms, Lucinda began casting another spell. "For your thanklessness, I curse you to live as a squirrel until your true love kisses you."

A moment later and the spell took effect  
Ella's true human form Lucinda had wrecked  
Fearing her king wouldn't recognize her this way  
She began to look for somewhere else to stay

"Get out of here! Get out!" When Slannen first arrived at the conclusion that he wanted to be a lawyer, the elf couldn't quite understand how much work would be involved in his job. He was exhausted and rodents were the last thing he wanted to deal with after a long day in the courtrooms. Taking a broom from the corner of his home, he swatted the thing towards the open door. "Come on, you probably have rabies or something. Rabies are the last thing I need right now."

The squirrel ran around his feet, causing him to trip and tumble down towards the ground. He wasn't the nimblest of elves after all, which was part of the reason he never wanted to go into the acrobatic entertainment field. The squirrel chirped at him, as squirrels are wont to do. Slannen wondered what it was saying in its strange little animal way, possibly something along the lines of 'I want a nut' or maybe 'I'd like to kick you in the nuts'. Either way, he grew furious as he sat on the floor watching the thing make a mess of his home.

He watched as it ran to the fireplace, where soot covered about an inch of the floor leading from its center. Slannen was usually kept a clean house but work at the office had been keeping him rather busy lately. With one of its tiny rodent fingers, the squirrel wrote out the letters, 'I-M-E-L-L-A."

"Imella?" Slannen wondered aloud, "Is that squirrel for 'acorn'?"

The squirrel appeared to frown at him, placing its hands on its hips. He couldn't believe he was getting _the look_ from an animal most other elves would have made a stew from. With its hand, the squirrel made a box around the first two letters and then underlined the last four.

"I'm.. Ella?"

The squirrel bounced up and down and chirped a bit, apparently happy that the elf had figured out the answer to the puzzle. Its tail twitched this way and that along the tiles of the floor, erasing the words and forming a new layer of soot for a drawing board.

Meanwhile, Slannen was freaking out and pacing around the room, "Wait a sec.. you're Ella. My friend Ella? What the-- how did you-- you mean to say that you were turned into a squirrel? I must be going crazy.. but then, stranger things have been known to happen, I suppose." He looked down at the squirrel, at Ella, who had formed new words on the ground, "'Need.. kiss'. Is that how you break the spell? Oh, so this is like a frog-prince type deal, then?"

Slannen knelt down beside the small animal, took a breath and pucked his lips. His attempt at helping her was met with a paw in his face. She chirped loudly and then pointed at the new words she had added. He read them aloud, "'From Char'.. oh, fine, my kisses aren't good enough then? First elves can't be lawyers and now elves can't break magic spells. I see how it is." Despite being rebuffed, he picked Ella up gently in his cupped hands. With a gentleman's courtesy he spoke to her, "Well, if it's a kiss from Char you need, then its a kiss from Char you will get, your highness."

Off to the castle to see the king they soon went  
If Ella kissed Char, she'd be happy and content  
Not only because his kisses made her feel great  
But also because it would end this squirrelly fate

"You would have me believe that my wife, my beloved Ella, has been cursed to live as this creature until a kiss from her true love breaks the spell?" Char looked ragged, as if he hadn't slept. Security at the castle had been tightened ever since Ella had disappeared a few days prior. "Slannen, while you've always been a good friend to both Ella and myself, forgive me but this whole thing sounds a bit bizarre."

"I know your highness," Slannen bowed his head, trying to figure out something to say that wouldn't get him kicked out of the castle or thrown in the madhouse. "I know it sounds like something out of a fairy tale but need I remind you that this is the kind of world we live in, where extraordinary things happen on a daily basis." He paused to look at Ella on Char's desk. "Besides, if I'm wrong, then you'll only have kissed a squirrel but if I'm right then you'll have your Ella back."

Char glanced down at the rodent, looking it over curiously. "And you promise not to tell anyone in my kingdom about this? If rumors got out that I was going around kissing squirrels, well.. I fear they may try to take my throne from me for fear of me being daft in the head."

"I'd never tell a soul, your highness."

With that being settled, Char nodded, closed his eyes and gave a small kiss to the one he hoped was Ella. Her disappearance had worried him sick and caused him to spend many nights alone angry with the fact that he had let her go wandering around the kingdom alone. As luck would have it though, Slannen was right and before he could look again, Ella was sitting on his royal desk completely naked.

Both Slannen and Ella gasped which caused Char to open his eyes quickly. "Ella!"

"At least I'm human again," Her voice squeaked out, as she tried to cover her bare body. Slannen had already turned around, placing both hands over his eyes and humming to himself to drown out the image. Not that she looked bad like that, quite the opposite really but he hadn't been expecting to see his best friend in the buff.

Char took off his cape and draped it around her shoulders, allowing her some modesty. Then they bent in for another kiss, before she broke away and told him, "I guess you really are my true love."

So the curse was halted with one true kiss  
But of all things the moral of the story is this:  
If you ever try to undo a transformation spell  
Remember to bring along some clothes as well


End file.
